Category: Las Vegas Advisor

Cafe Landwer traces its origin all the way back to 1919 and Berlin, Germany, where Moshe Landwer opened his first coffee roastery and cafe. In 1933 for obvious reasons, the family emigrated to Tel Aviv and opened Palestine’s (now Israel’s) first coffee roaster and shop. The first modern Café Landwer restaurant opened in 2004, also in Tel Aviv, and started expanding globally shortly thereafter. The brand debuted in the U.S. in Boston in 2018 and has steadily grown, with 15 locations in North America, including the most recent opening in Las Vegas last April in an attractive storefront in Summerlin (on W. Charleston just west of Durango); it’s in the space formerly occupied by Chinglish Cantonese Wine Bar.

Cafe Landwer serves Israeli-Mediterranean-Middle Eastern cuisine for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Breakfasts include the “Famous”: two eggs, chopped salad, tzatziki, guacamole & salsa, skordilia (thick Greek dip, like hummus), feta cheese, Greek yogurt with berries and granola, honey, and strawberry jam, and bread; and the vegan omelet, with chopped salad, guacamole, salsa, matbucha (tomato-chili dip) , baba ganoush, artichoke, cherry tomatoes,
plant-based yogurt with berries and granola, skordilia, silan (date honey), strawberry jam, and pita (both $21). Also on the breakfast menu are two Benedicts ($19), three shakshukas ($17-$29), waffles and pancakes, breakfast parfait, and avocado toast ($13-$16).

Lunch consists of pita sandwiches like falafel, shawarma, smoked salmon, and schnitzel ($13-$18) and hummus bowls, while for dinner there are salads ($16-$21), pasta ($18-$21), and such entrees as kebabs, schnitzel, branzino, salmon, and vegan stir fry ($18-$32).

One thing we can say for sure is that no matter what you order, it’s very big food.

We tried the short rib shakshuka, which comes with chopped salad, a half-avocado, tahini, and fresh-baked challah (half a loaf straight from the oven). The short rib was cooked to perfection and the shakshuka, a spicy tomato-pepper stew topped by a fried egg, couldn’t have been more authentic and piquant. Even though we were stuffed halfway through, we were positively compelled to finish; we simply couldn’t stop eating. We did take home the tahini and half the challah.

We also ordered the bourekas to sample. This is an Israeli puff pastry filled with soft cheese and served with sides of a hard-boiled egg, radish slices, zhug (a Yemenese hot sauce), pickles, and tahini. We took that home whole and had as dessert for lunch and dinner that same day.

All in all, this meal wasn’t exactly a bargain; the bill, excluding tax and tip, came to $44. Next time, we’ll get the shakshuka sans short rib and skip the bourekas ($20). Still, it was the best, biggest, and most exotic breakfast we’ve had in many a year.

A “traditional breakfast” for $39? That’s what you pay these days at a fufu joint like Tableau at Wynn Las Vegas. We had an opportunity to grab breakfast there and we took it—comped, of course. Yeah, $39 for a bacon & eggs breakfast will make you shudder, even though this one comes with three eggs, potatoes, toast, pastries, juice, and coffee. But what you’re really paying for the setting, the cache, the prestige of doing brekkie at the Wynn.

Juice

There’s a separate menu of fresh-squeezed juices. If you’re gonna do juice, a first-timer’s gotta go with the flight of three—Orange Zest, Purify, and Red Deliciousness—for $14. Orange Zest isn’t orange juice. It’s a mixture of orange, carrot, ginger, Asian pear, and nectar. Purify is honeydew, green apple, kale, spinach, cayenne pepper, organic agave, and celery. Red Delicioiusness is fuji apples, bell pepper, pomegranate, beet, and lime. Here they are (we don’t think we need to label them).

The Food

We didn’t order the traditional breakfast. There are too many intriguing choices to do that. Selections include lemon ricotta pancakes, with blueberry butter and Vermont maple syrup for $28; Belgian waffle, with marinated strawberries and lemon Chantilly ($29), and the obligatory caviar & soft boiled eggs ($78). We opted for lox & bagel, with scallion cream cheese, pickled onion, capers, cucumber, and egg mimosa for $32. Our dining partner, a Tableau regular, simply ordered some things that came to mind that he wanted, same as you’d do if you were in your own house with your own chef—“three eggs scrambled soft, a croissant, coffee with almond milk on the side.” We didn’t see eggs a la carte or almond milk on the menu. The waiter just nodded, then brought it out. Sweet!

The Verdict

Was it the best bagel & lox we’ve ever had? No, but it was good. And a couple of those juices were an interesting foray into flavor pairing. But as alluded to above, this is more about scene than cuisine. If you get a comp Tableau, take it. If you fancy a splurge, do it. If you want to impress the woman you met at the club last night, this will do the trick. Breakfast for two was $100+ with tip. As they say, when in Wynn!

When forming a top ten list of all the restaurants in Las Vegas, including the best in the casinos, Lotus of Siam is a favorite to be on it. At one point the original in Commercial Center was named by one top critic as the best Thai restaurant in America. We’ve always felt that the praise was justified. If you’ve read LVA for a while, you know that we rarely run out to try something new. But after reporting on the Lotus happy hour last month, we made it a point to try it for this issue. Note that this is the Lotus on E. Flamingo, across from Silver Sevens, The original remains closed, though they still say it will reopen. We don’t put the casino location at Red Rock in the same category as the non-casino restuarants, since it isn’t overseen by James Beard Award winning chef and founder Saipin Chutima.

The Deal

The happy hour runs Mon.-Fri. from 3 to 5 p.m. in the bar area, with $4 sake, $5 beer, $6 wine, $8 specialty cocktails, and $7 small plates.

The Food

We wondered about the food selection. Lotus has a vast menu, so what would they choose. Was it possible the famous appetizer nam khao tod would be on the list? Amazingly, it is, though it’s called crispy rice lettuce wrap. Another of our favorites, khao soi, a Thai version of steak tartare is also on the menu as steak tartare cups. Also offered: calamari, papaya salad, satay, and garlic tofu. All are priced at $7, and the portions are good. Honestly, it’s not quite the same as getting the larger portions that you prepare yourself, but they’re representative for sure.

The Drinks

You can order the sake hot or cold and it’s a heck of a deal for $4. However, the star of the show was the White Lotus cocktail, a smooth mix of bourbon, lime, peach schnapps, passion fruit, and aquafaba.

Ambiance

Nothing will ever match the original, but the Flamingo location is clean and comfortable. Friendly and helpful bartenders. A good HH setting.

The Verdict

This is a top notch happy hour that pretty much met our high expectations. There were only a few other people at the bar, which was surprising, but maybe the word’s not out. At these prices you can get your drink on in the process. Be sure to try the crispy rice lettuce wrap and the tartare. Our bill for two was $49.